


Condolences

by StAnni



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 16:06:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17450093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StAnni/pseuds/StAnni
Summary: There was a good, solid, healthy year between them – they had both their twenty fourth birthdays and even a Christmas between them.  Everything came together in such a way that it felt like it could last.  It was devastating when it didn’t, for both of them.





	Condolences

They have said things to each other and done things to each other that are hard to forgive. At some point the tit for tat mentality of their youth gave way to serious attacks. Where they once could talk and discern and then possibly move on, the scars left in the wake of their reckless retaliations became too hard to face. He realises, as she moves out from the shadows like a ghost, that the last time he saw her was on his twenty fifth birthday, which was more than a year ago. 

She circles him, playful, but dangerous. “What are you doing on my roof, birthday boy?” she asks and he waits for her to round him.   
He remembers when she stood a head taller than him – now he towers over her as she looks at him, chin upturned. “This is your roof?” he asks, playing along, raising his eyebrows just so – just a bit, enough to make her smile. 

“Haven’t seen you in a dog’s age, B.” She stops and looks him up and down, curling her whip around her wrist “Don’t you have better plans for your birthday?”

And he does have plans. There is a dinner party gathering at his new apartment the very moment. Rachel has invited their closest friends and Alfred has flown in. He knows that when he checks his phone later there will be increasingly agitated messages from both Rachel and Alfred.

“I heard about your mother, Selina.” He says, quietly and she stops her fidgeting with the whip. Her eyes are clear, and darts, thinking, to the side of the building and then back to him. She is planning to leave.

“I’m so sorry.” He is sorry. And she doesn’t run. She is quiet, taking it in, before she shakes her head, attempting to make light of something that is dark and heavy. “It was going to happen sometime or another.” She says – voice even but the tremor, slight and uncertain, underneath.

There was a good, solid, healthy year between them – they had both their twenty fourth birthdays and even a Christmas between them. Everything came together in such a way that it felt like it could last. It was devastating when it didn’t, for both of them.

“You shouldn’t be alone” he says and it is not an offer, it is a fact. He is not going anywhere.  
She can see it – for all her stubbornness and her furious independence – she can see it. “Thank you.” she answers, plainly – and he moves closer to her, closing the distance that is always, always there.

“Your girlfriend will be mad.” She teases, but her voice is weak – flat and he puts a hand on her shoulder - gently, his fingertips brushing the dark blonde curls tumbling to her shoulders. “I don’t care.” He says, because he doesn’t.


End file.
